To Witness The Unseen And Unspoken

I remember the paper on my beloved’s bedroom wall: The Promise of a Sacred Witness. (Or How to be a Sacred Witness. Something like that.)

I remember how she embodied this in so many moments and how I wished the same for myself. I wish to witness the world, the beings, and the in-between. To hold these moments as sacred, even as they appear mundane and ordinary.

The more I can witness, the more I take in and know and (maybe) understand.

It bolsters the foundation of my magick. The place where hope and awe and power are held together by seeing it in action. By shutting up, slowing down, and bearing witness to what unfolds as I continue to breathe my life anew.

Witnessing vs. Seeing

Earlier this week, I posted an insta-poem on my social media, a poem that I type out on my phone post-workout when I’ve been rolling words around in my brain and birth them when I stop moving.

the things we haven’t seen

With less contact comes less witnessing

A narrower knowing of others

Seeing only what social media deems algorithm-worthy

Seeing only what we choose to share in the first place

The birthdays, the deaths, the births, the near deaths

So much behind lockdowns

And closed doors

Celebrations in empty rooms

Losses in echoing hallways and bathrooms

The things that aren’t as easily carried over the phone or on a screen

I wonder about the screams in parked cars or into pillows

I wonder about the avoidance that looks like busyness and discipline

The silence that is easier to interpret as overwhelm or rejection

When the world is a lot

When being a human is a lot

So I want to celebrate you

For the things no one sees

For the things you hope no one sees

But when we next meet, I will look for it in your eyes

I will meet your gaze

Nod and arrange my mouth in a half-grin

You’ve seen some things and been some things

Same

Maybe you resonate with this, maybe not. Maybe this is not a pandemic-only event to feel a lack of a witness to who you are and how you are in the world.

To you, I offer this.

Witnessing Yourself Now (or Whenever)

I know I say this a lot, but heart magick is where it’s at. Or at least the way I’m seeing it unfold these days. To witness yourself is a part of your own self-devotion and the way you can act as your own love spell.

You will need a mirror, a quiet place, a deep breath, and an oil (scented or not, fancy or not, skin appropriate)

Start with a few deep breaths to call yourself back to yourself. As many as you like or a special number that sings to you.

Then look into your mirror and into your eyes. The ones that see and know and have been there for all of the things. Even if you needed to close them or you scrunched them tight.

Looking into the mirror, name aloud the things you’d like witnessed. Talk about what they meant to you and how they changed you.

I want to witness _________ and how it made me feel ___________. I remember [insert all of the details you want to witness and remember].

Try to look into your eyes as much as possible in this practice. You can look away if it’s a lot, but try to return so you can feel witnessed and seen.

You can choose to witness one thing right now and come back later for others.

Once you feel you have said all that you want someone (you) to know, I invite you to close your eyes and feel the presence of loving beings around you. These might be ancestors, deities, flowers, or anything else that feels kind and supportive.

Allow yourself to feel these beings watch you in this work, in this magick, in this conjuring of your own heart. Calling yourself into the center, where you are fully seen and known.

Take the oil to anoint yourself as someone who is seen and known. Follow your intuition about where this should go and where it might be needed.

Sit in this space for as long as you like. Perhaps follow up with a celebration of yourself.

I celebrate you too.

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